Broken nails are something that I see on a regular basis. Most dogs have 5 nails on each of their front legs and 4 nails on each of their back legs. The thumb nail on a dog is called a dew claw. Some dogs have dew claws only on their front legs, some have them on all four, and some do not have any. Many breeders will remove puppies dew claws when they are less than a week old to prevent issues with them in the future. However, I do not think that dew claws are typically the nail that is an issue with dogs. Since they sit higher up on the leg, they usually aren't the nail that is hitting all of the surfaces that the dogs walk, run, and play on. If your dog has a dew claw, it is no big deal.
Dogs that like to dig or have very long nails are more prone to breaking their nails. Some medical conditions can make dog's nails fragile and more likely to break. If your dog breaks nail, it is bleeding, there is a piece of nail that is dangling, or it is severely cracked, please make an appointment for your veterinarian immediately to determine the best course of action. Broken nails can be very painful and there is a high likelihood that your dog is not going to let you touch it. If you are unable to make it to a veterinarian right away or the same day, you can follow these recommendations.
First try to evaluate the situation in a calm manner. If you are very stressed, your dog is going to feed off your emotions and also be worked up. It would be helpful to have an additional person to aid you in evaluating the nail, but if not try to gently keep them in one spot to determine what type of damage has happened.
If the nail is bleeding then you can apply pressure to the area to try to stop the bleeding. If you have Kwik-Stop then you can apply it to help stop the bleeding. You can also use corn starch or flour to help stop the bleeding. If you are unable to stop the bleeding then you will need to get to a veterinarian as soon as possible.
If there is a piece of nail that is dangling and your dog tolerates it, you can remove that piece. This may be very painful, so if it does not come off with gentle traction, do not continue to force the removal.
If you have bandaging material at home you can apply a loose bandage to the area. Use caution to not make it too tight as you can cut off circulation to the toes.
A veterinarian must be seen as soon as possible, so pain medication and possibly antibiotics can be dispensed. Broken nails are very likely to become infected, especially if your dog is licking at them. Also, your dog could break their toe at the same time as they break their nail and a veterinarian should evaluate them for any fractures.
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